ShopSolutions Case Histories of Manufacturing Problem Solving Subsea Control Depends on Accurate Machining F
MC Technologies is a Houston, TX-based developer and manufacturer of oil and gas production control systems (PCS), which consist of topside controls, power equip- ment, a subsea control module (SCM), various sensors, and subsea electrical and hydraulic distribution equipment. The entire system is configurable according to conditions and re- quirements and provides engineers aboard oil or gas produc- tion platforms with precise control of the well. FMC Technologies has operations around the world near the major oil and gas industry epicenters. The company’s UK manufacturing operation is in Dunfermline, Scotland, near Edinburgh. Because recordkeeping and traceability are vital to companies operating in the oil and gas equipment manufacturing sector, FMC Technologies continually invests in a preventive maintenance program that uses Renishaw machine tool probes and calibration products to check and verify the dimensional accuracy of its CNC machine tools. The resulting data are stored for quick retrieval and easy access using Renishaw’s CNC Reporter software. Craig Simpson and Mike West are FMC Technologies maintenance technicians with responsibility for the service and support of 20 CNC machine tools of various types, makes and ages. Also in their charge is one of the company’s more recent investments: a $4 million, purpose-designed and built subsea control module (SCM) machining cell consisting of two Okuma Space Center MA-600HB CNC horizontal boring machines, loaded and managed by a Fastems automation system. An SCM contains electronics, instrumentation and hy- draulics for safe and efficient operation of valves and chokes on the well-top subsea tree. “There are four primary ma- chined parts in an SCM,” said Simpson. “One high- and one low-pressure adapter plate, the manifold block itself and a baseplate. There are also a large number of small valves and electronic circuit boards that go into the assembly.” Wells can be as far as 75 miles from the production platform in water up to 10,000' (3048-m) deep. Producing oil and gas safely and reliably under such conditions requires companies to make enormous investments. When an SCM is installed in the seabed, it has to be reliable and safe for the
Craig Simpson, maintenance technician at FMC Technolo- gies in Dunfermline, Scotland, uses the Renishaw XL-80 laser calibration system to check linear dimensions of its CNC machine tools.
production life of the well, which can be decades. Hydraulical- ly controlled valves must be free from defects and contamina- tion, and if a critical part malfunctions the potential cost can easily run to tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. The Fastems automated cell is used to machine the stain- less steel hydraulic manifold block—a critical control element in an SCM assembly. The 588 lb (267-kg) block is approximately 16 × 16 × 16" (400 × 400 × 400 mm) and is a complex of 350 drilled holes. The plant will make more than 200 manifold blocks in 2014, when the cell is fully operational and capable of working “lights out.” Should a tool break occur during the machining cycle, a Renishaw NC4 laser-based tool-setting sys- tem will detect the tool absence and notify the Fastems system, which will reject the pallet and replace it with another.
February 2014 |
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